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“He saw my library and my books and he’d pick them up and start reading them,” he recalled, noting that his four other children also generally agree with his policy views. “But the other ones didn’t study Austrian economics [like Rand].”

“They talk about ideas and father-son family issues,” added Jesse Benton, an adviser to both Pauls. “They don’t sit there and concoct their political strategy.”

Yet Benton, 32, himself offers an example of how the Pauls are becoming a political family in their own right.

Just as the Kennedys had their uber-loyal family retainers, the Pauls have Benton as their fixer-gatekeeper. He worked on Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in 2008 and then was dispatched to Kentucky last year to take over Rand’s Senate run when the candidate found himself under fire for remarks he made about the Civil Rights Act after winning the GOP primary. Interview requests to the House office of Ron and Senate office of Rand were routed to Benton. And when the Pauls each visited Iowa separately in successive weeks earlier this month, he accompanied them each time.

“It was like Tom Hagen or something,” said one Republican there, referring to the Corleone family consigliere played by Robert Duvall in “The Godfather.”

Benton is no ordinary staffer—he’s one of the family, married to Ron’s granddaughter and Rand’s niece, having met her on the campaign in 2008.

Benton speaks authoritatively about the family.

“Robert’s not running,” he said flatly about the Senate prospects of Ron’s youngest son, a family doctor outside Fort Worth who has instructed his assistants to tell reporters he isn’t offering interviews.

Another Paul-by-marriage, however, is quietly getting in the political game.

The GOP ad firm that made Rand’s Senate ads last year, The Strategy Group for Media, last week hired his wife, Kelley Ashby Paul, to serve as director of client communications.

Because the elder Paul’s following is as narrow as it is passionate – which is to say he’s unlikely to ever become president — the network that he’s built up is too easily overlooked. But three years after he ended his presidential bid, the mark Ron Paul has left is unmistakable.

Besides the missing crimes that include booze smuggling , date rape charges , leaving the scene of the crime , murder and using political connections to enrich themselves and giving and getting favors because of lifetime seats in government ... besides all that I guess i could see how the two families are sort of alike ... Oh wait the Paul's dont actually want any of the things the kennedys stood for either so besides all those and that fact your right there basically exactly alike. Since politico cant even find a Apolitical person let alone a non democrat id say you get points for finally printing the Pauls as Libertarians for that part of the article I think you nailed it perfectly.

When obama won i thought he was honest. I thought the troops would be home, the patriot act would be repealed, and the debt would go down. So far all of that didn't happen; in fact, the opposite has happen. Ron and Rand are the only politicians i trust that will do would they say. Politicians these days are all talk but no substance. Just look at what rand has done since he became senator. What other politicians are doing what he has done in the past 4 months?

I was a poker player who was on the verge of making his dreams come true, but the gov't took it away. :(

I cringe when I see families, like the Kennedys, Buckleys or Pauls, wishing and working to be political dynasties. It seems especially odd that libertarians like the Pauls seem so eager to be government check-collecting lifers. At least the Paul hubris is not so brain damaging that Paul is seeking to turn his home into a national shrine or museum, instead of selling it to the highest bidder. Nonetheless, one Paul son in the Senate is one too many. I'm not sure Rand has much of a political future anyway; he represents a sizable state, not a sleepy district, and Kentuckians may be ready to toss him next time after hearing and watching him for six years. All family members should be voted against if only to discourage the American tendency to create political aristocracies. (It seems we can't get that old British poisonous illusion and toxic tradition completely purged from our political system.) George W. should be ample reason never to say yes to another Bush, yet we see Republican pundits and political pros pushing for a Jeb run. I realize Jeb is much better educated than his brother and would make a better president, but that's not the point. We can no longer clearly see Jeb, the man, apart from the blinding political aura cast by his family. Political family dynasties should be vigilantly snuffed out before they develop to retain the great uniquely American spirit. False aristocracies are just a step short of false deification.

The first time I heard Rand give a speech I knew he was different. He unlike most politicians get it. We need freedom to succeed and low government intervention in our lives. Government is making our lives worse not better.

His stance against American intervention is going to win him many votes. I like most Americans are tired of spending money on wars we cannot win, and should not be involved in. We had to get involved in WW1 and WW11 because had Germany won our country could have been threatened. The Atom bomb changed all of that. We need to mind our own business and worry about the American people first and foremost. The rest of the world will work out their own problems

The media had a grudge against ron. During 2008 fox cnn msnbc cbs abc barely gave ron paul exposure to his ideas and constantly they would belittle him as much as possible. If it takes a dynasty to get the message of REAL freedom across, then so be it. I would rather have people that don't restrict my personal liberties in congress NO bible thumpin "conservatives", NO war mongering "republicans" and NO spread wealth from rich to poor and spend like there's no tomorrow Democrats. I Want Freedom. Period.

Both Ron and Rand are nothing like the Kennedy's, and people are tickled pink about them saying they would like to stop support to Israel, this would be great seeing our tax dollars for America instead of thieves.

Both Ron and Rand are nothing like the Kennedy's, and people are tickled pink about them saying they would like to stop support to Israel, this would be great seeing our tax dollars for America instead of thieves.

Both Ron and Rand are nothing like the Kennedy's, and people are tickled pink about them saying they would like to stop support to Israel, this would be great seeing our tax dollars for America instead of thieves.

Both Ron and Rand are nothing like the Kennedy's, and people are tickled pink about them saying they would like to stop support to Israel, this would be great seeing our tax dollars for America instead of thieves.

Both Ron and Rand are nothing like the Kennedy's, and people are tickled pink about them saying they would like to stop support to Israel, this would be great seeing our tax dollars for America instead of thieves.

It seems especially odd that libertarians like the Pauls seem so eager to be government check-collecting lifers.

Doesn't it just? I also loved the self-professed fiscal conservative little Randy Paul screaming himself blue about proposed reductions to Medicare, since his lasik practice relies so heavily on MEDICARE.

It does fall into place when you consider that a follower of Ayn Rand would be a huge hypocrite. She spent her life railing against social programs and then collected benefits herself. Little Paul Ryan wants to gut and privatize Social Security, while it is well known now that he collected survivor benefits as a teen.

I guess government run safety nets are only acceptable when republicans are cashing the checks.

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Affordable Gas Price Act. This legislation reduces gas prices by reforming government policies that artificially inflate the price of gas. While the price of gas has not yet reached the record levels of last year, over the last two months the average price of gas has risen approximately 16%. In some areas, the price of gas is approaching $3.00 per gallon. There is thus a real possibility that the American people while soon by once again hard hit by skyrocketing gas prices.

High gas prices threaten our fragile economy and diminishes the quality of life for all Americans. One industry that is particularly hard hit is the trucking industry. The effects of high gas prices on the trucking industry will be reflected in increased costs for numerous consumer goods, thus further harming American consumers.

Unfortunately, many proposals to address the problem of higher energy prices involve increasing government interference in the market through policies such as price controls. These big government solutions will, at best, prove ineffective and, at worst, bring back the fuel shortages and gas lines of the seventies.

Instead of expanding government, Congress should repeal federal laws and policies that raise the price of gas, either directly through taxes or indirectly though regulations that discourage the development of new fuel sources. This is why my legislation repeals the federal moratorium on offshore drilling and allows oil exploration in the ANWR reserve in Alaska. My bill also ensures that the National Environmental Policy Act’s environmental impact statement requirement will no longer be used as a tool to force refiners to waste valuable time and capital on nuisance litigation. The Affordable Gas Price Act also provides tax incentives to encourage investment in new refineries.

Federal fuel taxes are a major part of gasoline’s cost. The Affordable Gas Price Act suspends the federal gasoline tax any time the average gas prices exceeds $3.00 per gallon. During the suspension, the federal government will have a legal responsibility to ensure the federal highway trust fund remains funded. My bill also raises the amount of mileage reimbursement not subject to taxes, and, during times of high oil prices, provides the same mileage reimbursement benefit to charity and medical organizations as provided to businesses.

Misguided and outdated trade policies are also artificially raising the price of gas. For instance, even though Russia and Kazakhstan allow their citizens the right and opportunity to emigrate, they are still subject to Jackson-Vanik sanctions, even though Jackson-Vanik was a reaction to the Soviet Union’s highly restrictive emigration policy. Eliminating Jackson-Vankik’s threat of trade-restricting sanctions would increase the United States’ access to oil supplies from non-Arab countries. Thus, my bill terminates the application of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to Russia and Khazaskin, allowing Americans to enjoy the benefits of free trade with these oil-producing nations.

Finally, the Affordable Gas Price Act creates a federal study on how the abandonment of the gold standard and the adoption of freely floating currencies are affecting the price of oil. It is no coincidence that oil prices first became an issue shortly after President Nixon unilaterally severed the dollar’s last connection to gold. The system of fiat money makes consumers vulnerable to inflation and to constant fluctuations in the prices of essential goods such as oil.

In conclusion, Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Affordable Gas Price Act and end government policies that increase the cost of gasoline.

I like his kid, and I like Gary Johnson. I could support either one. I was REALLY jazzed about Ron until I watched him in the primary debates around 3.5 years ago. It was clear that ole Ron hated "neocons" (a word he hissed at least three times) FAR more than he hated Islamofascists--which he explained away as a 'natural consequence of America's foreign policy.' REALLY?!

He has many useful things to say about our monetary policy, and the relationship of Americans to our runaway government, but on some matters, Ron's morally retarded. The idea of a Ron Paul presidency worries the hell out of me. .

Let the Ryans run, and run, and run. They don't stand a chance in hell of making it to the Presidency. Both are extremely radical and would take this country back to the 1800s. What truly amazes me is how these people get elected to office in the first place. There is a little explanation in Kentucky. They are all drunk on moonshine -- why else would they also elect McConnell? Oh, and Texas, they introduced us to the worst president in history. Yep.

We live in scary times. Not only do we have a lot of nutheads elected to our Congress, we have a lot of bigger nutheads who put them there.

I wonder if all of those who want "less Government" in our lives have thought out the consequences. For example, less oversight of the financial sectors got us in the terrible economic mess we are in today. If we didn't have the FDA we would be subjected to more dangerous drugs and contaminated foods. I, for one, would like to see more government intervention in these areas as we import filthy seafood from China and the Far East. Do people really want to see drugs entering the market without studies on their possible harmful effects? Do we want to leave airline safety left to the airlines? Do people want companies to be free to contaminate our water supply -to have out lakes and streams being fed with toxic waste? Actually, more regulation is needed in this area. Let's let all the oil companies drill baby drill offshore. So, what's the big deal if we have a few accidents that destroy the plant life, have dead dolphins wash ashore and contaminate our seafood for years to come. To hell with the fishermen -- let them find other jobs. I have barely scratched the surface... Properly functioning, the government should protect its citizens.

I want an alternative to the lying, back stabbing, President we have now but I don't see a single Republican I would vote for. Obama has broken every campaign promise that mattered to me and I will not support him again. We need a third party.